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It’s about time I post this recipe. I must have made these meatballs about 4 times in the past month alone. My sister made these Aromatic Lamb Meatballs by Nigella Lawson while I was visiting her one day and they were the bomb. So, of course, I decided to change up the recipe and make my own Paleo version with an optional side of dairy goodness. This whole meal pictured above took me about 1 hour and 15 minutes to make, veggies, dip, and all included. If it was just the dip and meatballs it would have taken me under an hour. I served it with cooked frozen spinach (quick and cheap) mixed with grass-fed butter, s&p. And asparagus that was on sale at Weis, rubbed in oil, granulated garlic, s&p, then broiled on high for 8-10 minutes.

Switching gears here, I’m going to share a short, sweet, and random story. I recently went to one of my best friends birthday dinners and one of the ladies in the dinner group told me she’s a fan of my food blog and asked about how I got into the Paleo diet, how I got into cooking, and so on. Let me just say, I LOVE when anyone asks me this. I will save the whole story of how I started the Paleo diet for another post. But I must say, instances like this remind me of why I started this blog and why I’m sharing my recipes. So, this is a big thank you to that person. It’s a great motivation to keep posting and keep up with this blog. Thank you! 🙂

Ingredients:

Makes about 15-17, 1.5 inch meatballs

1lb ground lamb

1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion

3 tablespoons almond flour (optional)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

Yogurt Dip:

2% or whole Fage Greek Yogurt-Whole is best

lemon juice

fresh dill, chopped

Granulated garlic

salt & pepper

*all of these ingredients don’t have measurements because I taste as I add them until I get the right balance. I advise starting by adding 1/2 teaspoon of s&p and garlic, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of chopped dill. Then taste and add more of each as you feel it needs. Taste as you go, only add a little at a time. I have extra pics below to give a better idea of what the final dip looked like.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Combine all meatball ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Form mixture into 1.5 inch balls (about the size of golf balls) The mixture will be pretty sticky.

2. Bake meatballs for 25-28 minutes, or until no longer pink in the middle.

3. While the meatballs cook, make your dip. Grab your container of Fage (I had a medium size tub, refer to pics below) and mix it up with a spoon until smooth. Add salt, pepper, garlic, lemon juice, and chopped dill. Mix well, taste, add whatever you think it needs. Only add a little at a time.

4. Serve with the dip and some broiled veggies or chopped spinach and enjoy!

My apologies for not posting in a few days. Had some kitchen disasters/Superbowl recipes crisis. I planned on making spinach and artichoke dip, wings, cheesecake mousse stuffed strawberries, and brownies. Brownies were an epic fail (one didn’t cook all the way through in time, and the other wasn’t sweet enough), didn’t have time to make the dip, and the wings weren’t spicy enough. However, the cheesecake mousse stuffed strawberries worked out well 🙂 They were a hit with the family and I will definitely be posting that recipe soon.

Note to self – do not experiment with new recipes 3 hours before the super bowl.

This recipe however, I’m well acquainted with. It’s from the blog The Iron You. Check it out. Good, healthy, Paleo recipes. Their recipes are more strict with the Paleo diet than the recipes I post.

I should also add, if you haven’t been to a Nandos yet, go. Good prices, the peri peri chicken cesar salad is delicious and their tasty sangria is half off before 6. Oh, and get the french fries because their dip is really good too.

2. In a shallow sealable container or in a large Ziplock bag, combine chicken chunks and marinade.
Cover or seal and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. The time you allow for marination makes a significant difference in this recipe. I marinate mine for 3-8 hours. Overnight would be best if you’re able to do that.

3. Remove the chicken from the marinade and skewer onto bamboo sticks that have been soaked in water for 5 minutes. I try to stick some of the onion slices on there too.

4. Heat a grill or a grill pan to medium heat. If you’re using an outdoor grill lightly oil the grill grates. I personally used a baking sheet, foiled it, then put a greased wire rack on top. Broiled on high 10-12 minutes, on the middle oven rack ( time depending on how small you cubed the chicken) turning them half way through.

5. Cook the chicken kebabs, until golden brown and cooked through, about 10 minutes turning regularly, until juices run clear.

Okay, I went a little crazy with the photos. But come on, how good do those look?

…aaand these photos also remind me of Louis C.K.’s Cinnabon joke. If you want to know what I’m talking about, listen to this video. And if you really want to know what an artist this comedian is, listen to his commentary on the episodes of his show on FX, Louie, or go watch American Hustle.

Something you should also take a look at, Paleomg.com. I’m always using her recipes! Especially the chocolate waffles. Put some strawberries on that with some whipped cream or ice cream and you no longer have breakfast, you have a dessert.

In an earlier post, I mentioned the cinnamon toast waffles at Family Meal and I decided to recreate them and make a paleo-ish version using some of that churro waffle recipe from paleomg. These are very dense waffles, so I also made an attempt to recreate that creamy cinnabon cream they had on the side of the dish at Family Meal to moisten it up a little…aaaand I forgot to measure anything. So, if the directions/ingredients for that part are a little iffy, I apologize. Enjoy!

This makes 6-8 waffles.

Ingredients:

3 cups of almond meal/flour

4 eggs, whisked

1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon + a few dashes/sprinkles for coating

2 tablespoons honey

2/3 cup heavy cream or coconut milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

3-6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4-1/2 cup coconut palm sugar

Cream:

1/4 cup heavy cream

1-2 teaspoons mascarpone cheese, room temp

1-2 teaspoons coconut palm sugar

1-2 teaspoons honey

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, while your waffle iron heats up, mix together the almond flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, whisked eggs, vanilla, and heavy cream/coconut milk. Once well combined, scoop mixture into the waffle iron.

2. While they cook, melt the few tablespoons of butter in a dish big enough to dip the waffle in.

3. In another dish, mix together the coconut palm sugar and extra cinnamon.

4. As the waffles come out of the oven, dip a side (or both sides, what the hell) in the butter and then dip in the cinnamon sugar mix.

5. To make the cream: With a beater on low speed, beat together the heavy cream and mascarpone cheese just until combined (don’t make whipped cream!) Then gradually mix/fold/lightly beat the coconut palm sugar and honey into it. Add it little by little, you might not want it that sweet, since you’ll be adding maple syrup on top of these waffles, I’m sure.

By the way, these are great to freeze (pre-dipping in butter and sugar). Just heat them up again in the oven or toaster and then do the dipping part. Good stuff 🙂

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I'm an artist/designer. And a cook. I guess. I love sharing my recipes with others and discovering new recipes. I try to stick to a Paleo diet as much as I can (I call it the Paleo-ish diet)...I say whatever a lot...aaand thanks for stopping by and please let me know if you try any of my recipes and how they turn out!